Stones of Supremacy
by Princess Santa Clause
Summary: A story put together for friends, by friends. It's filled with their characters and character ideas, while I take care of the plot. Little to None of the characters in this story belong to me.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A story incorporating characters that don't belong to me! :D I own the plot, but all of the characters introduced so far do not belong to me.**

Out in the mountain ranges, snow piled high, no matter the season. Very rarely were the large animals that dwelt in the barren lands seen, as rarely did humankind travel these parts. That being said, the white covered ground most usually lay undisturbed and relatively untouched aside from the hoofprints or squirrel tracks that would soon be filled in again.

Peaceful... and untouched...

"Almost...Got it..!" Settled carefully at the edge of the tree limb, several feet from stable ground, the light brown haired boy poured his efforts into his extending arm to where his sky blue eyes reached. His body was crouched, knees huddled up towards his chest in doing so while his feet were planted firmly on the branch. While his left hand lay firmly clasped around the branch for stability, his right was inching further and further away from his body.

His fingers reached, wriggling at the tips in the attempt to reach the shimmering red stone, all glowing with a radiant red cloud of light. It was mesmerizing to say the absolute least, and when the young male had caught wind of such a sight being spotted up this way, he knew it had reached the top of his destination list. Otherwise, he believed, someone would make it to the stone before him, which simply could not be done. "Can't..."

Adjusting his footing to a dangerous edge of the branch, far less stable than the initial brunt on which he originally stood, he began his attempt to reach it yet again. It was as though he could feel the light against his fingers, so close that the material of the stone was just within his reach-

"HEY!" Called a feminine voice, loud and pouring with a stern sound, "DON'T you touch that stone!"

"Uaaah!" Losing his balance, the branch bowed, snapping under the unsteady pull of his weight. He fell towards the snowbuilt ground below, but before doing so... His hand just barely swiped the stone. And so, with a 'pfft' sound, he fell gleefully through the snow, leaving his hollow imprint several feet deep. At least he had gotten what he came for. "The stone is mine!" He grinned, bursting through the snow to raise his arm up.

His glory was short lived, for the owner of the warning voice that had caused his ugly spill into the snow had him up by a bunch of his shirt in a brief matter of moments. "On a scale one to ten..." She began, sharply, yanking him up close to meet his blue eyes with her own sharp, red ones, "How stupid are you? At LEAST a seven, I know!"

A bead of sweat formed upon the boy's cheek. As far as he was aware, the stone he had managed to get his hands on was coveted by most, considered a treasure by all, but belonging now only to him, but despite all of that, he was more focused on the frightful female that so threateningly held him. She was taller than him, for sure, as his feet were now dangling from the ground, and the grip she had on his dark colored coat was practically choking the life out of him, "W-Wait..." He choked out.

"Wait, nothing!" The red eyed girl barked bitterly, the wavy portions of her short, red hair somewhat obstructing view of her eyes at times of her spirited speaking. "Do you KNOW how big this world is?"

Barely able to say much more, and hoping that agreeing with her words would relieve the painful crush against his throat, he began what little words he could speak -what with his face verging blue, "I-It's huge! Y-Yeah..!" It must have had something to do with the stone. Maybe that it was the only such valuable treasure for quite a ways, and that it would be far too much trouble to try finding something matching its value or use.

"Exactly... And I've searched that big world..." She seemed to have been calming down a bit, her tone growing a bit more quiet and stable, "FINALLY I found the Ruby I need... " Uh oh.. Her words once again began to rise up in fury to the tune of an irritable sounding woman, "And NOW I have to track it down AGAIN!"

"W-What do you.. Mean I...- Aaack." Breath was eluding him, and his eyes started to water while he flailed his arms in protest.

The redhead haphazardly dropped him right back in the snow, dullest look depicted on her face as she uttered a distasteful 'tch'. Her bitter expression was firm, and dully, her red eyes rose up to meet the red glow of the Ruby that seemed to be slowly deteriorating into orbs of red aura. The bright glow that once illuminated it began to fade as though it were disappearing.

She uttered a disappointed sigh, stuffing her hands into her red-brown coat pockets, "Fucking fantastic..." She muttered in displeasure.

Taking in scathing cold breaths to his raw windpipe, the blue eyed boy glanced over to the female. Tracing her line of sight to the disappearing Ruby, he searched his person, then the snowbank he had initially fallen in. "What the..." Patting down his pockets, he scowled, a pout forming on his lips, "I could have sworn..." It felt as though he had it right in his hands... But then, the only explanation would be that he had missed it? Feeling his palms together, he took note of just how cold and dry the skin seemed to be, and he could barely even differentiate palm from finger. The cold seemed to have numbed them... That would explain why he never even noticed the stone's absence.

"What's happening to it?!" He questioned in alarm, distressed by his hard work gone to such waste as he turned his gaze back to the nearly-gone stone.

The redhead, turning to him with furrowed brows of notable bewilderment, opened her mouth to speak, though paused. She seemed to be in mild disbelief, "... What the Hell do you think happened? Ruby is MY stone. NOT yours."

"..." More confusion set into the male as he returned the same look of confusion, "What is that even supposed to mean?"

"It MEANS that the stone rejected you, stupid!"

"Rejected...?"

"Oh brother..." Offering a bland expression, she shook her head, "Each person is linked with one stone, and one stone only. If you can find that stone and take it for your own... It'll grant you immense power... Of course, that's not all there is to it. You have to be strong enough... And do whatever it takes for your stone to accept you..."

This all seemed to be getting more and more confusing. Though the basis of her words seemed to make sense in the boy's mind, it all seemed to sound pretty...out in left field? "Uhh...huh..? So what then? What's the point of finding your stone? I mean... What for?"

"ARE YOU COMPLETELY CLUELESS?! WHAT DO I LOOK LIKE, YOUR OWN PERSONAL ENCYCLOPEDI-"

The sound of a rolling boulder cracked and echoed, reverberating through the closed in mountain ranges.

"Shoot, here we go..." Contnued the female.

"What? What do you mean..?" Prodded the male, seemingly filled with questions.

Said rolling boulder, then seemed to be mimicked, succeeded by the sound of many more boulders crashing down over the side of the concaving mountain range walls and in towards the area in which they stood. Boulders and boulders, rolling and crashing, triggering rumbling tremors.

"I mean we need to go?" Although lacking any sort of fright from the ordeal, the redhead did seem to be speaking with a certain disdain, "An avalanche is coming.. And I'd rather not stick around." Turning carelessly on her heal, she began trudging through the snow.

"Wait!" Up to his feet soon through struggling and pushing through the high waisted snow with freezing body parts, he began to struggle over to her, "I can't-"

"Forget it!" She huffed, disregarding the worsening rumbles of the ground underfoot, "I'm not your babysitter! You're not getting me killed!"

With another well-placed pout, he through his body forward, gripping onto her arm and bullishly refusing to budge. It wasn't hard from the contact for her to find that he was frightfully chilled, but it never relieved the bland scowl she wore.

In fact, she wore that same bland scowl even as the snow began to pour in. "You owe me," She muttered, pulling him up onto her back by his arm to allow his legs to rest at her hips -although they drooped a bit from his lack of feeling in them, "Once for the life-saving. Twice for the Stone."

"Well..! I'd buy you something... But I left my wallet at ho-"

"Typical excuse!" She quipped, darting through the shaking piles of disturbed snow with high-kneed steps to avoid struggle.

Trying to force back a smile at her quick response, he continued on, "My name's Erin, by the way!"

"Well, Erin! Now I know who I'll be fucking up after we get out of this!"

With the area at ground-level abandoned, the avalanche began to roll in, tremors subsiding in areas that it had covered.

"Hmnn..." Murmured the male in thought as he peered down towards the tree that housed the still-slightly-present stone.

"How'd I do?" The black haired female nearby inquired, lightly tugging at the cat-eared hoodie atop her head as a bitter wind blew in.

He didn't respond right away. He stood unchanged, despite the blustery gusts wildly blowing his spkiy black hair. For the moment, standing atop the mountainous range where snow was scarce -compliments of the avalanche-, his both red and brown opticals focused upon the fleeting red aura orbs that faded completely from view until nothing was left.

Bearing notice to this, the black haired girl shifted her green eyes up to the male at her left, "Looks like we were too late, hmm?" Oddly enough, it seemed as though she was relatively unfazed. To her, it was merely a task that didn't require her immediate attention; and one less thing on her to-do list.

"..." Turning his head and closing his eyes, he uttered a soft sigh under his breath in exasperation. "It didn't get into her hands," He collectedly clarified, beginning to walk in the opposite direction, "So I couldn't call it a failure."

"Yah, but," She slyly began again, catching up with relative ease to walk at his side, "Still not a success." A small smirk coiled onto her lips, although she tucked it away into hiding rather nicely.

Glancing over to his left with a brown eye, he calmly turned back to face forward, not uttering a word, sound, or any sentiment that would lead her to believe she had succeeded in getting under his skin.

Pursing her lips into a pucker of amusement, she went to speak as though to continue on with her attempts, but instead, her eyes went to tracing the scurrying squirrels that went toddling past them.

Finally there was silence. Said silence was welcomed by the taller of the two, and he began to bring into account their next steps. If they were going to find success, they would have to be more prepared than this time, and have more in their arsenal than a few stones and boulders... Maybe even step from the shadows to confront them head-on. That was always an option.

"So many options..."


	2. Chapter 2

"So these stones are scattered all around the world..?"

"Mhm..." Continuing to walk down the road from the mountains where the weather was becoming less gusty and more mild, the redhead -who now seemed to have calmed down a bit- continued explaining. "Once you find it, it's EXTREMELY important that you don't touch it until you know you're ready. If you get rejected, it'll do what that ruby did, and settle i a new location somewhere in the world."

"So how can you find it? Can you locate it somehow or use something to find it?" By now, feeling was beginning to return back to Erin's once-numbed body, his lips returning to their original hue.

"Yeah, you can," She dully replied, "It's called get off your ass and look for it! I'd been keeping that Ruby in place FOREVER."

"And I made it move..."

"And YOU made it move!"

"Don't get mad all over again..." He murmured under his breath, seeming to forget that such a low tone of speaking was still right there near her ear where she could hear without even trying to do so.

Her expression dropped, teeth clenching with irritation. Despite this gruesome appearance, she asked with a sincerely caring sound, "Hey... Are you getting feeling back now..?"

"Ueh..?" Furrowing a brow for a moment, looking down to his hands, he opened and closed them with ease. Taking time to then look to his feet, he flicked them up and down with the same simplicity, "I think so..."

"Good," With that she untwisted his arms from around her neck and shrugged him carelessly onto the ground, "You can walk then!"

"Ahk!" Hopping back up to his feet, he trailed after her in a slight sprint at first to catch up, then a steady walk while keeping pace. "So, miss, where're we heading?"

"I'M heading home. I dunno what you're planning to do with your life," The redhead blandly replied, digging her hands -what seemed like habitually- into the pockets of her now-unbuttoned coat.

Erin shifted his blue eyes over to her, a subtle look of disappointment registering clear, "But I still need to figure out this stone thing..."

"I didn't hear You, We, Us, or Lucina anywhere in that sentence," She bluntly replied.

"And I need your help, Lucina!" Erin added quickly thereafter, firming his expression as he raised three fingers, "Now you heard three of those words!"

Whilst crossing under the titling post of the new town they approached, there left a bit of silence. The town itself was a rather peaceful little place, seeming to be dotted with a few homes here and there. The roads were in relatively new condition, looking not to have been traveled very often, and if so, not by very many.

"So," Erin began, breaking the silence once again as he trailed behind her a little, occasionally matching pace.

"So," Mimicked Lucina "You're just gonna keep tailing behind me?"

He glanced over to her, judging her facial expression whilst continuing on to answer her snide remark, "If I have to."

"Okay. Fine," Turning around and folding her arms, she began to take to walking backwards through the stone streets she seemed to know so well, "What do you wanna know then?"

A grin rose onto his face. Truth be told, he had quite a few questions to ask, but for the sake of avoiding evoking her easy-to-spark wrath, he asked the most important one first, "How can I find out which stone I'm linked to?"

"Funny you should ask," Lucina began, "To find your stone, you have to check the Mineras. Before you ask, like you seem to ALWAYS do. The Mineras is an underground cave, home to over 100 different kinds of mineral stone imprints. No, you can't fuse with the stone imprints, but they have traces of the mineral still present in their indents.. So You can see which one you react to. There shouldn't be ANYTHING else. NOTHING.. That you have to ask."

Mentally reading over the information she so-bluntly forcefed to him, Erin began to pick through the questions he had, matching them to the load of answers he had received. Pondering and humming in though with his finger purposefully over his lips, he finally responded, "...How will you react? To your stone I mean."

"...Good Lord," Exasperation set in as the redhead, fed up with the constant inquiries, snatched him up by his forearm, ignoring his writhes and protests as she began to pull him off down a small road to the right, "You'll see for your damned self..."

Although a bit more harsh than he had hoped, the light, hazel-brown haired boy had to admit that he was a bit pleased with the turn of events. All of his questions would be answered, and he would have the opportunity to experience it first-hand, "Well, if you say so!"

With all of the tugging and yanking, as well as stringing along between long-legged strides, the trip to the Mineras seemed to be far less of a distance than one would originally feel. Albeit the area, what with it looking so leveled at first glance did not appear to be much. The ground was earthy and solid brown like a type of cheap clay.

"Wher-"

"Don't ask another question," Lucina muttered, still pulling him, but slowly in pace. She moved to walk over to the right. Once there, it seemed like the entire atmosphere changed. Two stone pillars marked the left and right of a depth into the ground, making it seem like a fancy dirt burrow. Upon closer inspection, one would notice the many newly-placed stone tiles that lined the floor, and even when entering in, the two were illuminated by glowing, crystal-like stones that were pressed into the upper walls.

Erin was speechless. He never even noticed that his arm had been released, too mesmerized by the different hues and lusters of the stones and crystals. Everything seemed like such a change compared to the town that this wonder had been found in.

"Touch one," Lucina carelessly demanded, raising her hands to inform him that any stone indentation was safe to touch.

The excitement was there. His breathing had hiked up ever so slightly in rate, heart beating against his chest. It was pure exhilaration to know that any of the stones that were present at the moment could end up being the one suited to him. Eyes locking on the traces of diamond that seemed to glow clear in the limited light, he approached it. "I just... put my hand on it, right..?" Last thing he wanted was to destroy something, or mess it up.

"I SAID touch it, didn't I!?" She scoffed, hand raised as though begging the question 'are you kidding me?!'.

Gulping, he pressed his hand against the diamond scraps. Nothing.

"Uh..." Moving over to the Emerald indentations, he tried that next. Nothing yet again. "Agh!" He was growing frantic, rushing around the small indent and laying hand on whatever stone he could find, but none of them seemed to be yielding any results, "How do you know when it's the right one?"

"You'll just know."

A pocket of air formed in Erin's cheek, a dull expression forming on his pouting face, "Yeah. That's not working much..."

"Excuse me," A young female briskly asserted, brushing past Erin slightly. Her face was barely visible, shielded by the shadow cast by the pink sunhat she wore. She was a little short in comparison to the heights of Lucina and Erin, but regardless, she seemed to know her way around the Mineras.

Although Erin thought nothing of it, the redhead, knocked her fist against his head lightly to grasp his attention,"Watch her."

Raising his eyes up to keep an eye on the girl that had past them by, he furrowed a brow.

Once standing in a favorable spot, her hands took care to let go of the portions of dress that had been grasped and lifted in order to avoid sullying the black-dotted, pink fabrics. Her hair, all gradients of red to pink to blue, seemed to glow in the limited light, and her red eyes were clear to see, studying the wall with great care. "Hmm..." She pondered before uttering a time-passing tune in a soft hum. Her hand drew up to touch against one stone, then another, and another.

Turning her back to the wall she had studied, the multi-color-haired female then reached her hand delicately to the virtuous white traces of stone lodged into a notably small indent. It seemed to be very scarce. Regardless, she gave it attention, lightly dusting her fingerpads over it.

In response, the white stone began to emit a bright glow, nearly blinding to the eye. As though lacking enough stone material to complete the acceptance or rejection process, the glow faded back into the minuscule stone shards.

"Hopeite," She pleasurably murmured under her breath.

"And THAT'S how it's done," Lucina assured, offering a strong smack to the back as motivation fuel, "Go get your rock!"

"Right!" Moving to further test the many stones in the cave, Erin settled into a most-solemn looking stance, almost as though ready to engage in an honorable spar. Instead, his arms were thrown outspread, and while sparking into a dash, he went touching every indentation he could.

"Idiot..." Sighed the redhead, shaking her head.

At just that moment, as if yet another tremor had began to plague them, the Mineras began to bow at the ceiling and violently tremble.

In the mountains, Lucina was calm and relaxed, as tremors were normal there, but now, she seemed far more concerned. "What the Hell is going on?" She rushedly replied, feeling them worsening underfoot.

"There are never tremors here!" The sunhat-wearing female cried over the crumbling sound of the walls, which seemed to be on the verge of a collapse.

All in that moment, the upper portion of the Mineras, closer to the entrance, was blown wide open, casting dust and debris in the direction of the three.

Erin and Lucina drew up their arms protectively over their faces, while in contrast, the girl behind them pulled down the edges of her sunhat against it.

"Sorry about the sudden interruption," Came a somewhat playful sounding tone. From one of the stone pillars, all but broken unevenly at the top, and ever cracking, stood a black haired female, cat ears seated atop her hoodie swaying with the wind along with the slightly long black hair that poured from the sides. Her green eyes shone with a bit of amusement. "There're already a lot of you stone-collectors running around, and we can't have too many more," She drew up her hand, coiling up like a kitten's paw that settled near her chin while she offered a wink, "Can we?"

At her side, on the other pillar, was a black haired male, one eye a clear red, while the other, a regular brown. He seemed to be watching for their course of action, studying them closely.

"Damn it. We can't let them destroy the Mineras," Lucina spoke back to the rest, clenching her fists together as though positive she would defend it herself if need be.

"Right!" Erin agreed firmly, keeping a strongly determined expression.

Even the girl from before stepped up, taking the initiative to offer her skill to protect what was important to her. "I'm Lizzy," She told them, being sure that if ever they needed to contact one another during this combative approach, they would have a name to label her by, "I'll help you however I can."

"Heh," Now the full prominent smirk was layered on her face. This was the kind of amusement she was seeking. Although she would find herself without the energy to handle the tedious tasks of a normal day, she felt most determined to prove herself and toy with the little mice that tried to band together into a threat.

"Mess with the bull, you get the horns.. Mess with the kitty..." She raised her neck, bearing vision to a chunk of refined gold that began to glow from a black choker-like collar around her neck. The moment its glow grew to its full strength, her eyes flicked from green to yellow, gaining a black pupil slit in the center. As though matching the ears atop her hood, she also sprout a black tail from under the interesting multi-colored tutu she dawned. She raised her hands, showing the claws that sprout from her elongated nails, "You get the claws!"

"...They have their stones..!" Lizzy gaped, mouth dropping in shock.


	3. Chapter 3

"Who CARES if they have their stones!" Erin so brashly stated, firmly asserting his stubborn nature in the form of such a strong sense of justice, "We gotta protect this place!"

"Well said," Smirked Lucina, readying herself for the approach of the foes.

"I haven't gotten my stone yet!" He then added, causing both the redhead and multi-colored haired female to comedically slouch.

"I spoke too soon!" She scoffed.

Shifting her newly additioned form towards the black haired male above the cat-like female looked with amusement. "So, Kastanie," She began, shrugging her shoulders up as though attempting to charm her way into good graces -despite her constant attempts to pick his nerves, "It's time for kitty to play?" Her tail twitched up while she once again coiled her fists, flicking them a couple of times, "Right? Right right?"

Kastanie shifted his head to her, acknolwedging her words, but none of her juvenile attempts. Although her charm seemed to easily work on other unfortunate souls they seem to pass, his stoicism remained rather unchanged. "You go ahead."

"Whaa whaaa?" In response, she seemed to drop her hands to her sides in a relative pout, glaring yellow-eyed daggers in his direction, "You're not going to fight with me?"

He tipped his head to the side, red and brown eyes glowering down at her in a collected manner, "I would figure that's what you'd want... The chance to prove yourself that is?" With the amount of time spent alongside his partner, Kastanie had managed to grasp quite the feel for her personality: Not only the negative, but the comments and actions that seem to motivate her. "Right, Annabella?"

"Wh..." Pausing and considering the options, Annabella's pout began to falter, "But... but-"

"T's wrong, furball?" Lucina muttered with a huff, arrogant air wafting, "Ya scared?"

"FURBALL?!" An involuntary hiss came rolling from her mouth, lips curling back slightly as her glare sharpened. "Now you're really asking for it..!" Dropping down to all-fours, Annabella leapt from the podium, landing seemlessly whilst tearing up the ground with her newly developed claws as she ran.

Lizzy lowered herself into a fighting stance, drawing her hands up and sharpening her red eyes with a sense of determination. From the look of the stance, it was clear that she had a sort of fighting experience, but the way she looked; that sense of fragility, one would never guess. "Here she comes," She cautioned.

Wasting not a second to apprehend the quick-moving female, Lucina drew out the weapon that had been concealed in an easy tote at her back. She drew up a bow and arrow, tucking the bow into place to let it loose with frightful accuracy.

Erin, taking advantage of the moment, decided he would also assist, moving in to take her in attack from the left.

Taking the hint, Lizzy decided to follow up with a similar strategy and attack from the right.

At this rate, one would think that with an attack from the front, and both sides coming in simultaneously, the only option would be to stop and retract. Annabella, however, never slowed. A slick smirk coiled onto her lips, a brow raised, "Don't think I'm dumb, nya!" She added coyly, sliding her body in an agile manner to capitalize on Lizzy's small height. She hopped as though to completely jump over Lizzy, but finding a perch on her shoulders, she shot off like a pouncing feline.

Despite the attempt to grab her left arm, the weight on Lizzy's shoulders proved to keep her arms in place near her sides until the jump was complete. Whence Annabella had left her shoulders, Lizzy was pushed forward from the cat-girl's weight, sunhat spilling from her head in the midst of her stumble.

Erin, now that the target's main target had evaded, had been heading straight to its path, "Uaaah!"

"Aaah!" Lizzy simultaneously hollered, attempting to bring herself to a stop.

Though a delay occured with their simultaneous efforts to halt, allowing the arrow to pass by seemlessly -and embed itself into the crumbling stone of one of the breaking pillars-, the two, both Lizzy and Erin, still crashed into one another.

"Hehe! What a pitiful group~" Annabella gleefully noted, raising her hand to her lip with a leisurely lean when she had finally stopped.

Enforcing the little time for breaks that came with engaging in combat with three people at once, Lucina came rushing in from the right, determined to make a mark.

Turning her head in what seemed like a comfortably slow manner, the black haired girl raised her head towards the redhead with a look of clear superiority. Mouthing inaudible words that dryly amounted to little more than 'Too Slow', the flexible body of the cat-girl immediately flew into a clean kick aimed towards the side of her face.

Luckily, catching the kick for Lucina seemed to be an easy task. When it hit her palms, she slid backwards and reeled up thereafter to toss her on her way.

However, just a moment after Lucina released Anabella with the intentions of throwing her, the latter managed to twist her body into a recovery. As a result, the black haired girl did little more than slide backwards in a skid before rushing back at Lucina.

By now, Erin and Lizzy were recovered, observing the harsh clashes between the two and seeming to await their moment to intervene.

Although Lucina seemed to be hanging in there, the young female girl moved too quickly for her, managing to make several slashes in the midst of their high-paced clashes.

"Who's scared now?" She bitterly remarked to the redhead, feeling entitled to do so, what with her sudden advancement.

Lucina remained quiet, attempting to batter Annabella with futile attempts that only resulted in a returned slash. Finally, one was too much, and from a dealt out kick delivered to Lucina's chest from a spring-like foot -which had been raised up all the way to the chest for an extra boost of power-, the redhead was sent skidding backwards into one of the crumbling walls of the Mineras.

From there, Lizzy and Erin both took the initiative to attack Annabella on behalf of both the Lucina and the defense of the Mineras.

"Two on one?" Scoffed the feline, tail twitching irritably at the pests as she weaved through their attempts at well-aimed punches and kicks with clear agility.

Erin, sliding forward with the intent of delivering a punch to her shoulder -off from her right-, found himself knocked cleanly off balance by a sweep beneath his feet, compliments of Annabella.

Moments after dealing the sweep, the ebony haired female sprung right up from the ground, throwing the top of her head into Lizzy's chin moments before hammering her shoulder into her chest to effectively know her back.

They all seemed to be knocked back now, belly-up against the stone cave.

"How was _That?_ " The yellow-eyed girl proclaimed, hooking her hands to her hips and looking smugly up to Kastanie.

Feeling it be in his best interest -and a more productive interest- to avoid compliments, he merely raised shoulders in a mild shrug, "Good..." he muttered, as though bland or bored with her performance. He even had the pure audacity to raise hs hand over his mouth and utter a soft yawn, "But incomplete..."

"Why you..!" Stomping her foot, she bit her tongue for the time being and kept back all of those foul words she intended on blaring out at full volume towards him. Instead, she only put on a coy smile, "Well you didn't do anything... So..."

"Mm... You're right," Kastanie replied after a quiet hum of thought. Raising his wrist to show the gleam of Obsidian stone upon it, his very own stone-based powerhouse alterations began to take place. Black, glove-like material rose over his hands and up his forearms until completely covering the bicep and all other arm skin not concealed by his cloak. From his eye; the red one, spout a particle-like cloud of shadow-aura brimming in a blaze. "I'll complete the mission we were actually to do."

"Right! Destroy the Mineras!" Annabella chimed in, raising her arm to allow a sleek, black cannon to rise from the forearm, "It was really too easy fighting stone-less rookies like this!"

"Well, now it's far too late for you to try that now," Dully proclaimed Kastanie, a machine gun flipping out from his own wrists whence they were pressed together. To him, that hint of disapproval and taunting demeanor in his voice was more than enough to get a higher level of productivity from the feline girl.

"Wait!" Making her way to her feet, Lizzy, all swaddled in her dirtied garments, rose her hand, breathing hard as she wiped away the blood from the corner of her lip, "I can't.. Let you do this! The Mineras is the cornerstone of all stoneholders in the world..! I can't let you destroy it!" Sparking an inner fire within herself, she stood straight and affirmed, arms out stretched in a protective manner. "I REFUSE!"

"Too bad!" Annabella chirped, lips curling up in a cheshire grin, "You lose!"

In a moments notice, the combined efforts of both powerful firearms blasting and exploding against the walls and ceilings led to its almost immediate collapse. Dust and debris rose from the collapse remnants of the Mineras, the three heroes burried somewhere underneath; their fates unknown.

"Nngh..." Erin muttered first, eyes creaking open to the feeling of intense pain. He coughed from the dust in his lungs, beating his fist lightly against his chest to do away with it. "What..." So close was he to question what had occured, but upon forcing himself into a sitting position, it was clear what had occured. "The Mineras..." He said to himself in a hush, vengefully gripping at the stones in his hand.

Abruptly, a glow emerged from the pile. It was white and thick, as well as bright, but it soon fizzled like the others. "Ahh... My match..?" He questioned, blinking his blue eyes a few times at the small white bits of stone in his hand, "What... Stone is this?!"

"GAH!" Lucina uttered loudly, sitting up through the chunks of boulder and rock with a significant amount of scrapes and bruises, "FUCK!"

"WAH!" Erin bellowed in fight at the abrupt rising of the redhead, accidentally losing the shards coiled in his palms when he did so, "Wait! Wait the..!" Throwing and digging through the debris to find them, "NO!"

"No is right! Do you see what happened to the Goddamn Mineras?!" Slamming her palm against her head multiple times in what seemed like a self-imposed sense of discipline, she uttered an exasperated groan, "Fuck! Fuck!"

"Calm down!" Erin assured, waving his hands defensively before continuing his shard search, "At least we still have our health...Right?" Digging a little deeper, he uncovered a light tone of skin. Pushing the stones out of the way, he seemed to pale notably, "...Ahhuh... Lizzy? Lizzy right? Wake up, Lizzy!"

Peering over her shoulder, Lucina sluggishly moved up to her knees, making her way over to peer into the hole Erin had made in the rubble, "Hey! HEY!" She called, shaking the girl's face a bit, then reaching down to weakly pull her from the pile.

Sickly pallid from pure fright, the blue eyed boy looked to Lizzy, then over to Lucina for positive words, "..Is she..."

"No," The red haired female quickly replied, red eyes looking over Lizzy for a bit, "She's still breathing... She's freakin' knocked out, just like we were.."

"Looks pretty bad too," Came a new voice that caught the two to turn their heads to the source. It was a male. He seemed to be a little on the tall side, with a medium-complected skintone. His hair was white, spiky-like n style and clipping over his hazel eyes a bit. Turning his head to further appraise the damages, he folded his arms just after, "Whew..."

"Yeah.." Erin began sorrowfully, dropping his head with a tinge of shame, "This was the Mineras..."

"I know... It got pretty banged up..." Twitching his lips to the side, the male closed his eyes and gave a shrug, "But damn, YOU guys got fucked UP."

Mouth falling agape as he stared at the new arrival, Eren's eyes widened completely, "Did.. Wha..."

"Did you not HEAR him?" Lucina spitefully spat, turning her head with a dark glare in her eyes, "This is what's left of the MINERAS."

"Yup." Clearly he seemed to be more than aware. Raising a black-thread necklace from the lower portion of his chest and dangling it for the two to see, it seemed to depict a chunk of stone with reddish-orange coloration, "Which is why it's a good thing I already have my stone."


	4. Chapter 4

Prior to their departure from the ruins of the Mineras, a sort of agreement, or rather a sort of ofference was reached. The male arriving on the scene; the white haired one who seemed to be a stoneholder as well, lent Erin and Lucina his assistance.

Despite their little to nonexistent ties with one another, it seemed each was well-aware that they couldn't simply leave Lizzy unconscious and unable to fend for herself in the course rubble of the mines. Especially not with such a dark and little-known team of two roaming around.

For that set reason, they had agreed to take the male up on his offer to escort them to a place where Lizzy would be able to heal at ease -and hopefully quicker.

Unfortunately, that short place up ahead he had mentioned was looking more like that far place up several miles.

"We've been walking for a while," Lucina noted under her breath, feeling extra strain producing a sleepful feeling from deep within her muscles and joints from carrying Lizzy in tow. Sure, the young girl was far from being particularly heavy, but the fact remained that the weight of a human body ontop of miles of walking could be a challenge and especially so while the air began to warm.

"I don't know why we followed him anyway," Erin sharply whispered back to Lucina, wearing a distrustful expression. His blue eyes shifted back and forward between she and the hazel-eyed male that was leading them, "He could be in with those guys. We could be following him right into his trap..!"

Now, with interests piqued, the leading man turned around with arms folded. He proceeded to walk backwards, and although he seemed to carry a serious expression at first, his lips quickly gave way to a dark smirk, "Yeah... That's right.. I led you hear so that no one could save you..." His voice had taken on a tone far from his own, a dark growl notable as he spoke, "My team is ready to pounce and take your stone on my signal."

"Uah!" Faltering for a moment, but rebounding right back onto his dominant foot, the light brown haired male proceeded a straightforward stride to him slightly, but then stopped to point an accusatory finger, "I told you I didn't trust him, Lucina!" Like a child enthusiastically exhibiting proof to their mother, Erin looked back to judge her reaction, but to his surprise, she looked completely unfazed.

"Ah, I'm just kidding," Waving him off, the white haired male shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "If I was really some stone-stealing prick, I would have taken you out a long time ago. I could have, you know." Raising his black-threaded necklace once again, he hooked the edges of the material between his index and middle fingers, dangling the stone at the end of it in a taunting motion, "Since I have a stone and all..." The entirety of his features seemed to ring out in a certain arrogant amusement. Watching Erin get all riled up over nothing just made him feel a little more powerful than he already knew he was.

And like he anticipated, Erin's face flew into a deep pout of displeasure, "Okay, okay, I get it now! How many times are you gonna say it! You have a stone and we don't!"

"That's right. Wanna hear it again?" The hazel-eyed male playfully prodded.

"Not really! Because it's not important!"

"Oh?"

"Yeah! I could beat you even WITH your stupid stone!"

"Sounds like challenge to me..." He seemed to be far more amused than before, but even so, he ran his fingers against his chin in thought as though pondering, "Alright...Fine. When we reach our destination, then you owe me a match."

Faltering back slightly in his stance, Erin had to take the time to consider just what his big mouth had gotten him into. Still, now that the deed was done, he had to own up to what he'd said, despite his nerves doing their best to talk some sense into his daring mind, "F...Fine!" There was a bit of ease to this. After all, who knew when they would be showing up to this so-long-traveled-to destination...Right?

"Oh look, we're here."

Drawing pale, Erin looked back to Lucina for some kind of comfort or words of wisdom, but instead he only received the redhead's signature shrug and expression that pointed to him being an idiot in so many unspoken words, "Al...ready?"

"Pshyeah... It would have been a shorter trip, but I kinda like the scenic route," He made a subtle smirk in their direction, but blew it off immediately to the tune of laughter, "Hope you don't mind much!"

While Erin stared incredulously, Lucina only shook her head and proceeded to follow the leading male.

Their long-awaited destination didn't seem to be much. They had traveled through the forested area for quite some time, so naturally it seemed they weren't near any particular town. There were heavy shade trees around a small plot of land that was cleared off to house a small constructed cabin. It seemed as though, from the structural integrity and time put into its build that it was painstakingly constructed by hand. Despite the home-made feel to it, it was very well-made.

He hopped up to the door and went to open it, but pausing for a moment as though evaluating another option, he turned his hazel eyes to the group, "Wait here a second."

Obediently, Lucina and Erin followed through with his request, just spectating as he navigated around the side of the cabin and out of view.

By now, Lucina was beginning to feel a little overexerted, and unfortunately, Lizzy hadn't made any signs of awakening,luckily, however, she seemed to be making expressions and motions that pointed to her body having little-to-no difficulty with its future recovery.

Erin, on the other hand, seemed to be fretting about the future of his own well-being, what with the rash decision of initiating a challenge weighing on his shoulders. Regardless, he seemed to keep a rather calm disposition, "Where did-"

"Right here, Pipsqueak," The white haired male casually interjected, hopping from ground to top step in a simple stride. For some reason, he seemed quite at ease with everything, but that was likely because he, with a stone, could most-likely keep a lot of threats at bay. He eased the key into the lock and pushed open the door, revealing the inside of the cabin, "Home sweet home!" He casually remaked, tucking the dingy metal key away into his pocket whilst leading the two in.

The room looked rather cozy, warm, and of course, wooden. There seemed to be just necessities hanging around: A wood stove against the wall, a few countertops, and furnishings like a few chairs, a table and such. Not stopping to allow the two time to explore, he continued to beckon them to trot behind him to a narrow hallway.

Looked like there were a few rooms, some of which with closed doors, and one looking to be a bathroom. While Lucina followed the leading hazel-eyed guy into the room that seemed to be his own, Erin peered into one of the slightly revealed rooms on his right.

He pressed his head slightly against the wood of the hall to open a line of sight for his blue eye through the cracked door. A bed? Dresser? The door creaked ever-so-slightly as he attempted to get a better look. What would be the need of having another room? Perhaps it seemed like a normal thing to keep in a home, but Erin's suspicious nature kept him on edge about every detail, despite how common.

"Hey," It was a soft, yet warning tone via the white haired male in the other room. Despite there being a serious edge, it almost seemed like he was playful in saying so, "You'd better not be snooping, stoneless boy..."

A chill ran down the blue eyed boy's spine, his body trembling for some reason. It was hard to explain, but the jokester had a natural knack of getting his nerves in a frightful twist. "Ahh.. N-nope!" He replied, turning around despite the ever-growing paleness in his face. He flinched as the man's fingers were suddenly latched onto his chin, giving a slight squeeze at the sides while his head was raised in the attempt to force their lines of sight into crossing.

"Good. But that reminds me, kid," The male smirked, hazel eyes seeming to glint deviously as he released his grip from the stunned Erin, "You still owe me a match don't you? Oh, it'll be pretty fun wiping the floor with y-"

"Cirrus... You're not torturing this kid, are you?" Stepping around the corner with heavy footsteps came a male who, despite being notably relaxed and soft in speech, seemed to be quite enormous with a clear gift of intimidation. His hair was black, and relatively spiky in a fashion that gave limited view to his light colored blue eyes. Not only was his muscular build rather prominent, but in terms of altitude, he towered over Erin and Lucina... And even though Cirrus was quite a bit taller, even he was completely outclassed in height.

That, however, seemed to be the least of the white haired male [Cirrus]'s worries. His expression drooped into a dull look, his lips twitching together in a bit of disdain, "Geez, Jarren... I'm just playing with the kid." He looked over to the large male in question, expression growing evermore bemused, "...And would it kill ya to put on a shirt?"

He spoke words of truth. The mountainous male, Jarren, was bare-chested, the scars and burns littered across his torso doing little to alleviate the sense of fright that had swelled in Erin's chest. "This is a tensionless house, Cirrus," Jarren offered with a faint smirk, raising his hand to offer a strong pat on the back that send Cirrus slightly jolting forward, "Let's not harbor jealousy."

"I'm not jealous," Huffed the hazel eyed male, folding his arms while looking to his companion with a raised brow, "Let's see someone as big as you do backflips like me, WITHOUT breaking the planet, hm?"

As the two continued to converse, Erin stared to them with a troubled expression. If Cirrus hadn't raised enough suspicion, Jarren sealed the deal. If the two decided they'd go evil and wipe Lucina, Lizzy and he out, there would likely be nothing to stop them. The helpless thought made him shudder.

"She probably won't be-...Why isn't he wearing a shir-" Lucina began, stopping and pointing an awkwardly crooked finger to Jarren.

"Nevermind that, he does that," Cirrus quickly waved off the concern, motioning for her to continue.

"Anyway.. It doesn't seem she'll be waking up for a while," Lucina relayed, stepping completely from the room where Lizzy was resting.

Cirrus's expression seemed to sink even more, "I hope she gets her ass up before nightfall..." He droned, stuffing his hands haphazardly into his pocket, "I'd feel guilty making an unconscious chick sleep on the floor."

"No way to treat a lady..." Jarren muttered, shaking his head in disappointment towards his light haired companion.

"Looks like we both have to keep our conscious clean," Lucina offered, settling her hands upon her hips while looking to the two males "I don't have any business with her, but she's neither of your responsibilities either." Adjusting weight from one leg to the other, she seemed to roll her eyes, "So I'll stick around and see to her recovery."

"Wha!?" Whirring around to face the redheaded female, Erin's blue eyes seemed to grow to the size of saucers, "We're staying?!"

"I'M. Staying," Lucina corrected, red eyes growing somewhat harsh as she narrowed them towards the young male, "I don't have any ties with you either, and having you underfoot would just cause me trouble. Leave if you want."

Erin's face seemed to drop slightly, a frown beginning on his lips. It was nothing but the truth, but with the craziness of the events that had taken place, he couldn't help but feel that they had somehow grown some sort of friendship or bond. She had only explained the stone business to him, after he had gone and caused her endless trouble when it came to her own. Maybe he really should be heading out to set out on his own.

"Oh no you don't," Cirrus quickly interjected, drawing his hand around a bunch of Erin's shirt and pulling him closer while his hazel eyes glinted with a dark amusement, "You've gotta fight me still."

"Maybe that's not the best idea," Jarren began in a hesitant coax, "He looks a bit..." Weak? Feeble? Stoneless? Scared as Hell? "...Unwilling."

"Oh don't worry about it... We can just... Give him a little _stone training_..." Something about that one of voice hinted to stone training not exactly being what he was up to... Regardless, he seemed more than happy to pluck the young boy up.

Jarren glanced over to Lucina, as though gauging for a reaction or waiting for approval or disapproval, but this gesture was not exactly welcomed.

"I don't care. He's not mine," Lucina quickly spoke up, looking to the black haired male with a straight-forward tone. Maybe she was being a little too hostile. After all, they had practically opened up their house and regardless of being firm in making sure her point got across, she didn't need to be so hardened. "Actually... He did give me a lot of trouble with my stone," She suddenly trailed, causing Erin to flinch and pale.

"Lucina, wait!" Erin feverishly plead, flailing his arms in a 'halt' gesture that the tomboyish girl did little more than overlook.

"Go ahead. I might even watch."

"YES!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!"


	5. Chapter 5

The brigade were seated around the small pit in the center of the floor, which was burning with a great warmth, thanks to Jarren's woodstock.

Although the air outside was warm, it grew frigid at night when the mountainous air blew in. It was almost similar to that of a desert; extraordinarily hot during the day and bitterly cold at night. Jarren and Cirrus seemed to be right at home with the dramatic change, both of which wearing the same thing they had been earlier without much change or mention of the frigidity.

Lucina, having been scaling the mountain just earlier that morning, seemed relaxed with the freezing temperatures as well, but Erin on the other hand seemed to be distraught.

Not only was the cold really throwing him off, but the fire was igniting the itching sting of his wounds and bruises from training, which seemed to be littering every spot on his body.

"Now don't try to eat too much. I have enough money problems without a bunch of freeloader-"

Jarren quickly interjected with his more sensible hospitality, motioning to the plate of various foods and snacks with an awkward twitch of a smile edging on his lips, "Have as much as you want."

"Don't be so generous," Cirrus began in a genuine fashion, only for his expression to drop into a dull look, lips curved up into the signature pout from before, "Seriously. Please don't."

Lucina shook her head at their miniature squabble and dragged her hand across the platter to take quite a bit of the snacks, only to spite Cirrus, who certainly did glare at her incredulously.

While all this went on around him, Erin remained unchanged. His eyes were a bit less than energetic, and he was feeling a little out of sorts. That 'training' or rather horrific beat down wasn't just punishment for running his mouth... But it was a pretty grim wakeup call., It was terribly frustrating to stare into those flames with melancholy blue eyes and realize...

"It doesn't matter does it?" Erin began, clenching his fists, which were settled on his legs.

The trio of fellow onlookers turned their gazes to Erin, most with mere inquiry rather than true concern or worry.

"What doesn't?" Cirrus casually questioned, tucking his hands behind his head casually while reclining into a relaxed postion, "That I keep telling you rotten freeloaders not to do something, and you do it anyway?" He looked directly over to Lucina when saying this, only to be greeted by a morsel between her teeth that she purposely crunched loudly to spite him.

"That... Without a stone... There's really no chance of getting any stronger," He finally clarified, leaning his head against his outstretched arm, "There's no way I can stand up to a stoneholder."

"Yeah! That's kinda how the cookie crumbles," Cirrus casually replied with little-to-no concern regarding Erin's feelings, "You're pretty much doomed to be wearker than me, y'know?"

With a powerful shove, the black haired Jarren effectively silenced his white haired friend for a moment, "Now that's not true..." He looked up, folding his arms against his bare chest and developing a rather serious expression with very little leniance present, "Stoneholders work hard to train their bodies even before taking their stone. To blame power on a stone is childish... Because even then, there's quite a lot of work to be done before that."

"I guess I'll have to give 'em that. Jarren can tie me WITHOUT a stone. It's really a pain," Cirrus scoffed undertoned, dragging his fingers through his spiky hair, "But since you can't get as strong as him, Pipsqueak. It's really true. You're doomed to be weak!" He grinned as he said that, laughing at the young boy's expense even. For some reason it seemed that a lot of the things that came out of his mouth ended up amounting to little more than some sort of joke.

Despite the jovial tone, however, Erin was still feeling less than confident. It was true that he would give it his all to find the stone, but they had pretty much both said the same thing... Relying on a stone would be stupid, but the power difference between the... 'stone-less' and the 'stoneholders' is pretty immense. Who knew how long Jarren had been training? By the look of his physique alone, one could say quite a few years...

"Why do you want the stone so bad, anyway?"

This came from Lucina. She had set aside her eating momentarily and offered her undivided attention to the brown haired boy, "A little while ago, you didn't even know what a stoneholder was, and suddenly it's the most important thing to you. For what?"

That was true too.

He had been so blissfully unaware of this whole stone business, and it likely wouldn't have made any difference whether he had his stone or not. Why was it suddenly so significant?

Maybe the power difference had something to do with that. Seeing how easily they were brought to their knees by those Annabella and Kastanie characters from back at the Mineras... But power never bothered him before. He couldn't put his finger on it at that moment, but he felt the insatiable need to find this stone, and to be granted this power. It could have been that little hint of competitive nature he had hidden somewhere, or maybe something else.

"Until you figure that out, you can forget about this whole stone bull," The redhead scoffed, leaning her elbows behind her onto the sofa that lay at her back, "Without any ambition, or goal, searching around for your stone will just be a burden, and eventually you'll just give up. It's especially hard for you."

Perking up his head, the usually apathetic hazel eyed host offered just the slightest bit of intrigue, "Especially hard for him? And why's that?"

"He's searching blindly."

"That doesn't have to be it though," Jarren offered, between them with a sense of bewilderment, "He could just go down to the Mine-"

"Oh no. No he can't," Intervened Cirrus, shaking his head with his hand raised knowingly, "The Mineras got completely blown up just earlier. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the stones were blown up too."

Now concern was setting in. Why had Cirrus uttered those words so calmly? And why was Jarren the last to know? The large, black haired male sat up a little straigher, expresson growing dark and serious, "What the..."

"Relax, Relax, Jarren, buddy," Offering a strong pat to his back -which amounted to little more than a tap-, Cirrus casually shrugged his shoulders, "I got my stone, you know yours. It's all good, buddy!"

"Cirrus. You're missing the point," Suddenly the soft, calmly spoken scarred male became far more harsh in tone. Slowly he was seeming to get enraged, "This isn't about us. The entire WORLD is handicapped because of this!"

"E-Eaaaasy now," Cirrus continued to coax, raising his hands up defensively in front of his chest, only to receive the sound of Jarren's fist slamming a hole through the wooden floor of the cabin. "DAMN IT, JARREN!" This wasn't the first time something as this had happened, and it certainly wouldn't be the last, but the more numerous the occasion never exactly made easier the situation.

Lucina looked to Erin, seeing the young male had flinched slightly. She, herself, remained unfazed. It wasn't her house after all, and she felt just as enraged that it had happened earlier on. "They were stoneholders too," She calmly input, attempting to offer more information that could lead to clearing up the problem.

"Why the Hell..." His hands gripped against the slightly lifted boards of the floor, practically peeling up one of the planks -much to Cirrus's dismay-, "Why would anyone .. A STONEHOLDER attack the Mineras?!"

"I think... I can provide an answer for that."

Turning their head, they offered their attention to the girl that had entered. It seemed Lizzy had awakened. Unfortunately for Lucina, however, it was too dark and cold to act on her original plan of leaving whence Lizzy was out of their care. Plus, she seemed capable of offering them some information they hadn't already heard. Even Jarren seemed to settle down ever-so-slightly, changing his grasp from a rough deathgrip on the floor, to a resting-like positioning.

"Well what can you tell us that we haven't already figured out?" Cirrus questioned through the silence, seeming relaxed as always while the multi-color-haired girl approached and kneeled opposite to him across the firepit.

"I'm... not sure, but I hope it'll be something worth telling," She quietly remarked. She wouldn't want to waste their time; that was certain, but if she could clear up this mystery any, she would definitely try.

"We'll hear you out," Jarren offered calmly, beginning to ease back into his usually demeanor.

Her red eyes lowered to her lap, where her hands lied together, and her fingers intertwined with the soft and silky material of her slightly tattered pink sundress, "I'm sure you all know, but the Mineras has always been the cornerstone for all potential stoneholders. They've relied on it for years to give insight on whose stone belongs to who."

"Congrats. You're a book of basic information," Cirrus scoffed, crossing one leg over the other and retiring from listening.

"And congratulations to you," Lizzy quickly retorted, mustering up a faint glare across the fire, "You have the attention span of a small child. Can I finish now?"

A small smirk curved onto Lucina's lips as she assessed the situation. As far as she could tell at this moment in time, she was growing to really appreciate the sharp tongue on this Lizzy-girl. "By all means. Ignore him and keep going."

"Thank you," Returning to her usual, classy disposition, the young girl furrowed a brow in thought, "Before the Mineras was built, stones were all about trial and error; and stoneholders were incredibly hard to come by. Those that managed to link with their stone were revered as heroes and legends; they protected villages and towns... Even became Kings of some by the overwhelming gratitude of the public... But of course people cannot just leave good enough alone."

The glory handed over to the limited stoneholders began to feed their power. They felt entitled for more based on their feats, and so when it wasn't given to them, they took it. Stoneholders went from admirable heroes to legendary horrors. They destroyed kingdoms, ransacked villages... Killed and threatened. It was called the Age of Stone Peril. And with that said... They naturally angered the Stone Creator: Ores."

"Wait wait wait," Cirrus interrupted again, shaking his hand to issue the pause, "Now you're going on some kind of... God of Stones tangent. Where are you getting this information?"

"I'm sorry," Lizzy lowered her head in a soft bow as though sincerely apologizing for her sudden turn of story events, "I assumed you would know... I got the information, because I actually read..."

Cirrus's expression drooped while Lucina seemed to snicker at his disdain.

" Now if I may, I'll try slowing this down a bit.

The Creator the Stones, Ores, was disappointed with the humans. They had sent the entire world into Peril, and he decided he needed to take action. Raising up from his monument with a sword glittering with little specks and chunks of every jewel, he took little-to-no time to end the Stone Peril, and the people began to offer him prayer and thanks for all that he had done. To prevent anything of the like from happening again, he stripped several stones from his body; one piece for each stone, and he structured the Mineras, and also offered a sliver of his energy to each stone he created thereafter. That way there would always be a way for stoneholders to be born if needed, and even stronger than the last."

"But..." Erin spoke up, looking up with brows furrowed in slight confusion, "What does that mean for now? With the Mineras gone..."

"They're probably trying to recreate that Stone Peril thing," Lucina replied, folding her arms tensely while making sense of things, "Without the Mineras as a reference, everything will go right back into that trail and error phase... And so Stoneholders will become less common again."

"That's right. It may not neccessarily be what they're planning but... It's possible," Lizzy agreed, nodding her head firmly.

Jarren's hand slammed down on the floor once again, yet this time, without enough strength to leave a hole in the ground underfoot, "If that's the case... We'll have to do something about it. I don't intend to sit by and let history repeat itself!"

"Ah..." The support for the future of stoneholders was strong, and the fact that her words were taken to heart in such a way left her feeling... quite welcomed actually, "I agree. Thank you."

Cirrus uttered a heavy groan, massaging his temples with a distressed countenance, "I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"Not if you want to keep staying here for free," Jarren quickly replied, looking to him sternly.

Lucina looked around, assessing the team that they were to be having on this outing. For a while she was sure she would just continue her traveling on her own, but at the rate they were going, and with this possible threat lingering around, it would just be selfish to want to go worrying about herself. She heaved a heavy sigh, then slightly raised her hand, "Guess it's settled then. We're going to go stop that those assholes."

"Right!" Lizzy chimed.

"You got it," Jarren pitched in, looking over to Cirrus after a moment to wait for an enthusiastic agreement as well. When none came, he elbowed the white haired male, who replied more like, "Ow! Wh.. Ugh... Yeah yeah sureee... I'm doing this against my will."

"Yeah!" Although not sure of what help he could be without any formal training, or without his stone...But for some reason he felt an interesting sense of joy radiating at the thought of traveling with the group. He'd definitely help however he could.


	6. Chapter 6: Deception

"No," Came the stern yet somewhat exasperated voice of the male. He had been getting a migraine from the girl that trekked behind him and her constant need for her suggestions to be heeded.

Once again, she looked up, a deep pout forming over her lips as her green eyes narrowed towards the male affront her. He always had to discard her ideas, didn't he? It always made her beg the question of just who died and made _him_ king. After all, she came up with ideas that were just as good. "Kastanie!" She abruptly huffed, darting in front of him and thus succeeding in forcing him to a stop. "We've been walking nonstop searching for this stone, _AND_ this band of reject stoneholder wanna-be's! We finally find them, and now you leave them be!?"

Impatient as always. The multi-color eyed male merely looked down at the snippy female with a rather blank expression. Her fury did little to intimidate him, but he did find it quite troublesome, "It looks like you failed to notice one thing."

"Ah?" Instinctively drawing her hands from her hoodie pockets, Annabella twitched her lips up into a frown and pushed her hands against her hips. "Just what is THAT, Kastanie?" She reputed in displeasure.

"It's not just the three of them anymore," He clarified, stopping to fold his arms.

The two additions? Yeah, Annabella had certainly come to notice that. She would have had to have been blind not to. "That shouldn't matter! We should be able to take them easy!"

The black haired male took to silence for a moment, glancing off to the right in recollection. Investigative as he was, it would have been impossible for him not to pick up on the distinctive details that really made those newcomers tick. The most prominent one was the stone that dangled around Cirrus's neck. It was true that Annabella herself was able to easily make short work of the three stoneless ones that had attempted to protect the Mineras, but those two were clearly different. They had much more experience, it seemed, and one of them was rather confident in his skills. Surely the weakest barked the loudest, and cockiness ultimately amounted to carelessness, but he felt several problems with taking advantage of that potential weakness.

For one: It was chance. A game of chance was like walking into a situation blind with the little advantages you had, and merely hoping and praying things would sway your way. That game, was not one of which Kastanie was a player. Likewise, they were outnumbered as they were, and the power and tactical experience of the newcomers were not yet adequately gauged. They could attack, but being the strategic-based attacker he was, he wanted something more... He couldn't just have Annabella talk him into storming them, could he?

"Hello?" Huffed the girl, reaching up her hand and snapping he fingers promptly to the tune of her jingling bracelets, "Earth to Kasta-"

"We're going to have to make a detour," Kastanie suddenly replied, severing her comment with the sudden information that made the young cat-girl's head spin.

"DETOUR?" They had been traveling on the path they had for quite some time after leaving the nearby path running past Jaren and Cirrus's cabin. Her feet were hurting, her legs were aching, and she was feeling overall tired of traveling. Who knew how long a detour in a different direction could take. That was it. With her inner laziness taking the helm, she looked stubbornly to Kastanie as though daring him to repeat or explain.

"There'll be a change of plan in our favor. We're going to meet wit-"

"Nope." A simple answer to a less than simple occasion, Annabella plopped down to the ground, arms folded stubbornly with her head turned off to the left. "I refuse."

For the first time, a hint of irritation made its way onto the young man's face in the form of a twitching brow, "It's not far. When we get there, we can find a place to re-"

"Nope!" She chirped again, "My paws are on fire, and I'm not taking another step! If we're gong to rest, then we're resting tonight!"

Yes.. That night, at that point, but how were they to find a rest spot if they weren't to move from that spot? Clearly she was feeling a little bullheaded, and through their partnership, Kastanie was well-aware that her moving of her own free will would not be a factor if he continued on his detour tangent. The thought of loss progress left him with a sour taste in his mouth, but with only fifty percent effort, there would be no productivity anyhow. "Fine. We'll find a place in town. Let's go."

"Nope."

Now this was just getting vexing. Turning his narrowed bicolored eyes to the sitting girl, he sighed heavily, "Then how do you expect to reach town?"

Raising her covered arms up with a cheshire grin, she bat her green eyes in a playful way meant to evoke a hint of his wrath, "Carry me!"

So vexing. The male seemed to regret every forward motion he made, but eventually rolled his eyes and lifted the girl up.

Whence near his chest, she so gleefully nuzzled her head against it whilst forging a purring sound, "Nyan, Nyan, Nyan!" She cooed, repeating it in such a way that it sounded similar to that of a sinister laugh from a kitten.

It was a difficult thing for the male to resist rolling his eyes, and in fact, playing into his less than mature senses, he decided to make her troubling experience far from favorable to her. He haphazardly tossed her over his shoulder, much to her dismay, and continued to walk. Unfortunately he now had to deal with squirming and complaining rather than purring and nuzzling, but his pride welcomed the change as a satisfactory exchange for winning the imaginary competition.

Certainly it seemed to be an interesting partnership, and between any other two teammates, it would seem almost odd to have these taunts and personality conflicts exist. This, however, was not any ordinary ragtag partnership thrown together at some random moment in time for a quick benefit. It was several years in the making.

Ever since that horrid incident.

She was so compliant back then, but somehow...

"Let me GO!" By now, Annabella was violently thrashing and squirming about whilst hissing and swiping furiously. "Put me down, damn it!"

...Somehow Kastanie had made the mistake of letting her be herself.

He shrugged his shoulder, releasing his arm from her so that she would topple down onto the ground with a frustrated shout.

What a pain in the ass he was. Pushing herself up into a sitting position, with legs raised much as a sitting cat would be, Annabella glared daggers to her partner. "You know? I'm starting to second guess this partnership!" She huffed, turning her lips up into a pout, "You don't treat me with enough respect!"

Boy was that a double-edged sword there.

"You don't take my suggestions! And you're just an overall jerk! I'd be better off on my ow-"

Abruptly, ringing out of the shadows with a heavy bass and throaty growl came a blood chilling howl that sent Annabella's skin into a series of rising goosebumps.

"Euhh... I take it back. Kill it. Kill it now," She whispered in clear distress. She backed away on all fours, keeping her hand up near her sliver of gold cautiously. Clearly it was no coincidence that the feline-resembling girl was less than fond of the 'man's best friend' counterpart, and as a result, the bark left her less than excited to see what uttered it.

Kastanie on the other hand, expression hardened, turned his red and brown eyes to face the origin. He wasn't exactly worried, and as far as he was concerned, his partner was merely overreacting. After all, loitering in the wilderness was just asking for the creatures to investigate.

"What is it, Lori- Ah... AH..." Abruptly there came the sound of a squeaky sneeze following the high pitched speaking voice. From the shivering bushes stepped a rather large, furry, cream colored dog with ears raised attentively. She looked back further, barking again in order to alert her nearby owner of her findings. By the sound of the voice that had spoken, she wasn't far, but she did sound rather sickly by the way she was continuously sneezing.

Said owner finally emerged from the bushes, standing at a height below both Kastanie and Annabella. She looked to them with large green eyes. Despite her meager height, she was a bit thick in stature with a round face dusted lightly with freckles. "Oh, wow..." She trailed off, awkwardly entangling her fingers in her curly brown hair while looking over the two. The dog at her side uttered a bark, and likewise, the young girl sneezed yet again, "I see, Lori! Good job!" Sneezing another four consecutive times while patting the dog's head, she urged forward, lifting her hand slightly, "Are you two lost?"

Annabella rose to her feet, brow furrowed while looking to Kastanie for any clue on a cover up or course of action.

"Not exactly," The male replied, looking to Annabella in turn, then to the mysterious young girl. "We've been chased here, so we're taking the time to hide out."

That reply caught the young girl off guard, and as a result, she had to try extra hard to mask the look of absolute confusion. She really had not the slightest a clue where he was going with this, but regardless, she kept support with a quick nod.

"Chased? All the way out here?" Clearly this wilderness stretched off for quite some time, so the idea of them being so smack in the middle at this time of night seemed a pitiful story if ever one. The brunette frowned in sympathy, "What were you chased by?" It was then that her dark green eyes took to their variously placed stones.

Seeing this, Annabella placed her gloved hand over her own chunk of gold.

"A violent group," Kastanie began, seeing the brunette's expression contort to a frown of concern. He had known the that she was hooked, and was positive that from there he could open up the plan in a way that Annabella could add in her own tidbits. "They're some rebels with ill intent, and because we attempted to stand to them, they took to force in order to keep us out of their affairs. You should see what they've done to the Mineras."

"The Mineras?" Now it was more like panic. Her hands rose quickly in front of her, clenching together to convey her hysterics, "No way! What did they do!?"

"They really did a number on it," Annabella pitched, suppressing the sound of amusement at their little tale-telling, "There's no way we could beat them."

"Right now we're on our way to request help."

It was a hard thing to hear, being the Mineras was so important to everyone in... Well... The World! Looking to Lori for a moment, and pursing her lips into a pucker in order to avoid sneezing, she seemed contemplative. "Well! It's too late to travel around right now. I've got room at my house for the night!"

That was welcoming. So now they had a place to stay, as well as someone that bought into their faulty tale. Kastanie and Anabella looked to one another, the latter being practically overjoyed to hear she had a place to rest her "paws".

"Thank you for your hospitality," The male bowed his head slightly, causing a slight smile from the girl.

"No problem! This way!" She waved them to her, beckoning them to follow she and Lori to the tune of three more sneezes, "I hope you don't mind a few dogs!"

That did it. Annabella's face dropped completely from the cheshire grin she was so fond of, to a look of utter disgust. Her bemused look shifted temporarily to Kastanie, who only returned the gaze with a much more amused expression before he passed her by to follow.


End file.
